California study: Kindergartners may be wrongly identified as English learners

By DONNA JONES -- Santa Cruz Sentinel

Saturday, October 22, 2011

WATSONVILLE - In 2010, more than 1,200 kindergartners in Pajaro Valley schools were tested for their skills in English.

Nearly all were classified English learners.

A new study by UC Berkeley researchers calls the results into question.

The state-mandated California English Language Development Test is so challenging, researchers say, that too many California children are being labeled as English learners more because of a lack of maturity than language skills.

"That's absolutely a concern of ours," said Susan Perez, director of instruction and curriculum at Pajaro Valley Unified School District. "What we're looking for is language proficiency and fluency. Our fear is what we may be getting is a reflection on how far they are along in development."

Researcher Lisa Garcia Bedolla, chairwoman of the Center for Latino Policy Research at UC Berkeley, said the problem starts with screening that uses four questions related to the child's first language and parents' language to determine who gets tested. Once in the test pool, designation as an English learner is almost guaranteed.

Only about 6 percent of California's kindergartners who took the test in 2010 were designated English proficient, according to the study, "Classifying California's English Learners: Is the CELDT too blunt an instrument?"

2 PERCENT PROFICIENT

In the Pajaro Valley, where nearly half the district's 19,500 students are English learners, more than 70 percent of kindergartners were tested in 2010, and 2 percent of those - 28 of 1,242 - were considered proficient, according to California Department of Education data.

About 28 percent of Santa Cruz County's 39,000 public school students are labeled English learners, California has 1.6 million English learners, about a quarter of its students.

Countywide, including Pajaro Valley, 1,580 kindergartners were tested last year, and 65, or 4 percent, were considered proficient in English.

In Santa Cruz, where 145 kindergartners were tested, 28, or 15 percent, scored proficient on the test.

Garcia Bedolla said the test subjects young children to up to two hours of questioning, often in an unfamiliar place with an unfamiliar adult. If the testing isn't completed in one session, more are scheduled. Parents are not permitted to be present.

"I don't understand how a 4- or 5-year-old can take a test that lasts longer than 10 minutes," Garcia Bedolla said. "It's not really what you want your kid's first interaction with school to be."

Sylvia Mendez, principal of Ann Soldo Elementary School in Watsonville, acknowledged the difficulty of the test, but doesn't believe children have been wrongly identified at her school. Most tested as English beginners, and teachers need that data so they can properly focus resources and instruction, she said.

"The identification that this is a beginner tells you as a school, you as a teacher, it's your responsibility to teach them that second language," Mendez said.

LABELED, MISJUDGED

Garcia Bedolla said if students are misjudged, they can be short-changed academically. In some schools, for example, students are pulled from classrooms for targeted English language development. During that time, they're miss out on other instruction. And once designated, they're stuck with the label until third grade, when they can provide otherwise on the annual California Standards Test.

Garcia Bedolla said multiple measures should be looked at to determine a child's mastery of English. Preschool teachers could be consulted, for example, and parents should have the chance to weigh in on their child's skills and opt out of the CELDT if they choose.

In a time of diminishing resources, it's not just the students classified as English learners that pay for mistakes, she said.

"From a resource standpoint, it could be a lot less expensive if the people you classify are really the ones who need it," Garcia Bedolla said.